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Source.—National Australasian Convention Debates, pp. 3-5, 23-28, 322
After self-government had been granted to the Australian colonies, the need for united action in certain matters became apparent. Under the leadership of Sir Henry Parkes a strong movement for federation was organized. His labor bore fruit in the meeting of the National Australasian Convention in 1891. At this assembly were passed the resolutions which form the foundation of the Federation Act.
March 3rd. Mr. Munro rose to move:
That, the Honorable Sir Henry Parkes, G.C.M.G., Premier of New South Wales, do take the chair as President of this National Australasian Convention.
He said: I think this is a fitting honor to confer upon the author of the movement on the part of these Australian colonies, which resulted in the Conference held in Melbourne last year. The hon. gentleman has taken a deep interest in the subject of federation for a great number of years, and we, moreover, meet in the colony of which he has the honor to be Premier. I have no doubt that in the position of president he will aid us with his council and advice, and that his
occupancy of the chair will reflect credit upon our proceedings.
Mr. Dibbs: We look to Sir Henry Parkes as, to some extent, the architect of the structure we are about to build, and we, like the other gentlemen present, look to our Premier for advice and explanation, and hope that he will in due time place before us such a programme as will enable us to proceed with the great work before us; I can assure the honorable gentleman that we appreciate the compliment paid to the Colony through our Premier, and personally I have great pleasure in
supporting the proposition which has been made.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
The President elect, being conducted to the chair by the Hon. James Munro, and the Hon. Sir Samuel Griffith, said:
Mr. Munro, Sir Samuel Griffith, and honorable gentlemen, I could not, under any circumstances, do other than yield to your unanimous choice. I am very conscious indeed of my disqualifications for the office of President. It is hardly in my nature to observe that studied decorum which is so shining a quality in the Chair. I have not been fitted for that situation in life. I therefore feel how great the honor is to be placed in that position on this great occasion and by this
great body. I shall trust to that generous unanimity which has prevailed in carrying this motion to support me in discharging duties in the Chair, duties which may become onerous; and I am quite sure I shall not trust in vain. It becomes my duty to give this assurance, that so far as I know myself, I will command myself to do the duties of this Chair so that there shall be no cause of complaint. I will try to conduct the business as to offend none, and, if possible, secure
the good opinion which appears to have been formed to-day. I thank the honorable gentlemen for the great distinction you have conferred upon me, and I trust none of you will see cause to regret the vote you have given.
March 4th. Sir Henry Parkes: I have the honor to move,
That in order to establish and secure an enduring foundation for the structure of a federal government, the principles embodied in the following resolutions be agreed to:—
1. That the powers and privileges and territorial rights of the several existing colonies shall remain intact, except in respect to such surrenders as may be agreed upon as necessary, and incidental to the power and authority of the National Federal Government.
2. That the trade and intercourse between the federated colonies whether by means of land carriage or coastal navigation shall be absolutely free.
3. That the power and authority to impose customs duties shall be exclusively lodged in the Federal Government and Parliament, subject to such disposal of the revenues thence derived as shall be agreed upon.
4. That the military and naval defense of Australia shall be entrusted to Federal forces under one command.
I submit these resolutions as a groundwork on which a debate may be raised on the whole question with which we have to deal. They certainly give a fair expression of the outline of the constitution which we want, as it exists in my own mind, and to that extent I at once acknowledge the paternity of the motion I make. I venture to appeal to every colony, and to every delegate representing every colony, to meet the work on which we are about to begin, in a broad federal spirit.
We cannot hope for any just conclusion—we cannot hope reasonably for any amount of valid success—unless we lose sight to a large extent of the local interests which we represent at the same time that we represent the great cause.
There can be no federation if we should happen, any of us, to insist upon conditions which stand in the way of federation; there can be no complete union of these governments, of these communities, of these separate colonies, unless we can so far clear the way as to approach the great question of creating a federal power as if the boundaries now existing had no existence whatever. I cannot too fervently impress upon my co-representatives from all parts of Australia the
necessity of keeping in view the one object of the better government of Australia, the whole Australian people.
By my second condition I seek to define what seems to me an absolutely necessary condition of anything like perfect federation, that is, that Australia, as Australia, shall be free—free on the borders, free everywhere, in its trade and intercourse between its own people; and that there shall be no impediment of any kind—that there shall be no barrier of any kind between one section of the Australian people and another; but, that the trade and general communication of these
people shall flow on from one end of the continent to the other, with no one to stay its progress or to call it to account; in other words, if this is carried, it must necessarily take with it the shifting of the power of legislation on all fiscal questions from the local or provincial parliaments, to the great National Parliament sought to be created. Now our country is fashioned by nature in a remarkable manner—in a manner which distinguishes it from all other countries in
the world for unification for family life—if I may use that term in a national sense. We are separated from the rest of the world by many leagues of sea—from all the old countries of the world and from the greatest of the new countries; but we are separated from all countries by a wide expanse of sea, which leaves us with an immense territory, a fruitful territory, a territory capable of sustaining its countless millions—leaves us compact within ourselves; so that if a
perfectly free people can arise anywhere, it surely may arise in this favored land of Australia.
Whatever our views may be on other points, I think we shall all be agreed upon this; that for the defense of Australia to be economical, to be efficient, to be equal to any emergency that may arise at any time, it must be of a federal character, and must be under one command. I do not mean that the naval and land forces shall be under one commander-in-chief, but that they should be under one kindred command—that the naval officer in command equally with the military officer
shall be a federal officer, and amenable to the national government of Australia.
As to the wisdom of the great step we have now taken, for so many eminent men from different parts of Australia meeting in this Chamber as delegates from their colonies is in itself a great step—as to the wisdom of that step we have the warning of every country in the world which has used government by a confederation.
Here we find a people I suppose about 4,000,000 strong. They have afforded in the great cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart abundant proof of their power of founding an empire. Go beyond the cities; they have accomplished under responsible government what appear to me, and what must appear to any stranger who knew the country thirty-five years ago, marvels in the way of internal improvements. Not only the railways, but the telegraphs, and everything
that conduces to the best ends of a civilized community, has been achieved by this scattered people in a marvelous manner. But all through this great, this noble, this successful effort, we have had different sources of irritation, of bad neighbourhood, of turmoil, of aggression, which, if they were to go on, must make these co-terminous communities instead of being one people of one blood, one faith, one jurisprudence, one in the very principles of civilization
themselves—instead of that must make us cavilling, disputatious, foreign countries. The only way to stop that is for the whole people—and remember that the whole people in the final result must be the arbiters—to join in creating one great union government which shall act for the whole. That government must, of course, be sufficiently strong to act with effect, to act successfully, and it must be sufficiently strong to carry the name and the fame of Australia with unspotted
beauty, and with uncrippled power throughout the world. One great end, to my mind, of a federated Australia is, that it must of necessity secure for Australia a place in the family of nations, which it never can attain while it is split up into separate colonies with antagonistic laws and with hardly anything in common.
I regret to say, Mr. President, that my strength is not such as will enable me to keep on my feet many minutes longer. I have submitted these resolutions—perhaps it is all the better—without any great effort in their support. I trust I have indicated with a clearness sufficient what the great object we aim at must be, and the means by which alone we can hope to accomplish it. I do not doubt that the gentlemen present will each of them address themselves to the subject, which,
I think, the resolutions have the merit of fairly launching, in a spirit of patriotism, always keeping in view the welfare, the prosperity, the united strength, and the ultimate glory of our common country.
March 13th. I am aware that outside these walls, at any rate, there is a feeling that we ought to wait; that the time has not yet come. I can only repeat what I have said in other places. If we miss this particular opportunity, every year that rolls over us will make the difficulties greater; these difficulties which our separate existence have imposed will go on increasing. They can only have one crop of fruit; they can only produce antipathy, disunion, aggression, reprisal,
wide-spread discontent, and, if they are suffered to go on, civil war. That is a prospect which no man of just mind can contemplate—that these colonies, sprung from the same stock, possessing the same great inheritance of equal laws and all the riches of science which have been achieved and stored up for us in the mother country—that we, side by side, instead of living in brotherhood and amity, should live in constant irritation and hostility. Either we must join hands, or we
must hold out our hands in defiance of each other. In the very nature of things we cannot be divided and be one. In the very nature of things we cannot submit to causes of irritation, causes of infliction, causes of dissatisfaction, causes of exasperation, and still live in brotherhood. It is only by joining hands in good faith as the people of one kindred; it is only by giving and taking—by entertaining compromise as far as compromise can be entertained without deadly injury
to principle—it is only by doing that, we can hope to found this union. If we unfortunately miss this great occasion, and leave the work undone, it will be done in a few years hence, and it will be done by younger hands, who will gain the credit of having effected this bond of union, which will be in itself, if rightly effected, of more value than any other achievement in the history of this continent.
This is no time for glowing periods; it is no time for rhetorical flights; but it is a time for hard and steady work in trying to do what we are called here to do, and I would ask the honorable members to do their utmost by a calm self-suppression, by a close attention to the object which has brought us here, by mutual respect, mutual forbearance, and disposition to compromise where compromise is possible, to assist each other in bringing about this great work; and I would
say that if we do seize the occasion and succeed in doing the work, we shall have, not now so vividly as hereafter, the blessing of this and succeeding generations in what we have accomplished.
A Source Book of Australian History, 1919 |
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